Act I

he curtain rises on the exterior of the Colorado Inn, high in the Rocky Mountains, sometime early in the 20th century. A band of Forest Rangers, led by Captain "Big Jim" Warington and Corporal "Billy" Jester, arrives and delivers its credo (THE FOREST RANGERS). Billy has been made second-in-command now that their Sergeant is "suffering from badly strained vocal chords." Brown Bear, Chief of the Kadota Indians, alerts Billy to the arrival of Mary Potts, the Chief's adopted daughter, owner of the inn and known to one and all as Little Mary Sunshine. The Rangers offer a paean to her sunny disposition (LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE), after which we learn of Mary's predicament: She purchased the inn from the U.S. govemment with earnings from the sale of her home made cookies, but unable to meet the payments on the land, she finds herself threatened with foreclosure. But Mary refuses to let a little thing like that disturb her, and chooses instead to LOOK FOR A SKY OF BLUE.

Captain Jim tells Mary that his dangerous mission is to track down the leader of a band of Indians who has been ravishing the area and murdering its citizens and capture him, dead or alive. Jim finds temporary solace in the charms of Mary, to whom he declares his innermost feelings (YOU'RE THE FAIREST FLOWER).

Enter opera diva Mme. Ernestine von Liebedich, the inn's most celebrated guest. Seeing Mary and Jim together, Ernestine recalls her youth IN IZZENSCHNOOKEN ON THE LOVELY ESSENZOOK ZEE.

Five Young Ladies from the Eastchester Finishing School are discovered PLAYING CROQUET. They are pretty, socially prominent and rich—if only there were some eligible young bachelors around. They decide to do something daring—swinging on some nearby swings—and are surprised in the act by the Rangers, who introduce themselves (SWINGING/HOW DO YOU DO?). Three couples remain on stage, perform the sextette TELL A HANDSOME STRANGER, and are instantly in love. Meanwhile, Mary's maid, soubrette Nancy Twinkle, is entertaining the rest of the rangers when Billy, who believed he was Nancy's one and only, enters. Billy tells Nancy how difficult it is when one cannot be sure of the fidelity of one's beloved (ONCE IN A BLUE MOON).

Jim tells Billy that if he has not returned from his mission by nine o'clock, Billy is to disguise himself as an Indian brave and attempt to apprehend the killer Indian himself. Next, Jim reveals to Mary the name of the savage he seeks: Yellow Feather. A shocked Mary reveals that Yellow Feather is the son of Brown Bear; a disgrace to his tribe, Yellow Feather was believed to have died while attempting to escape from jail. To conceal this from her adopted father, Mary had told him that Yellow Feather died attempting to save her life, and Mary now fears that the truth would break Brown Bear's heart. Before Jim departs, he and Mary declare their undying love (COLORADO LOVE CALL). Alone, Mary despairs, for Yellow Feather had threatened to return and have his way with her; she is cheered by Ernestine's words of wisdom (EVERY LITTLE NOTHING). Unbeknownst to Mary and the others, Yellow Feather, tomahawk in hand and in all his menacing glory, appears as the curtain falls. he In the garden, SUCH A MERRY PARTY is in progress. Washington diplomat General Oscar Fairfax arrives; a friend of Mary's, Fairfax holds the position of Temporary Assistant Undersecretary, Second in Chage of Indian Affairs. Fairfax orders the Rangers to go off and find Captain Jim at once. Meanwhile, Chief Brown Bear has decided to adopt Billy as his son, and in an elaborate ceremony (ME A HEAP BIG INJUN), Billy becomes the new "Yellow Feather."

In the bedroom of one of the Young Ladies, Nancy prepares to disguise herself so she can go out and help her Billy. Mary knows it's useless to try to stop her headstrong, if amusing, maid (NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY NANCY). In a black cape and headband, Nancy escapes, eager to act out her MATA HARI fantasies.

A momentary respite from the intense action occurs when Ernestine and Fairfax share their memories of 1884 Vienna (DO YOU EVER DREAM OF VIENNA?). Lantern in hand, Mary seeks Jim, yet finds the time to salute her friend the cuckoo bird (COO COO). Yellow Feather appears, lashes Mary to a tree and is about to have his way with her when Jim arrives and saves her. Jim vows that the Forest Rangers will make the heinous Yellow Feather into a useful member of society before returning him to his father, Brown Bear, who need never know of the base state into which his son had fallen. Fairfax announces that the U.S. government has decided to return one quarter of the state of Colorado to Brown Bear and the Kadotas. His honor returned, Brown Bear gives the land to Mary and to his newly adopted son Billy. The real Yellow Feather, apparently having reformed in record time, returns to wave an American flag during the FINALE, in which all join happily.

—Ken Mandelbaum

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